Enjoying the Spring Weather

It is a perfect time of year here in Doha, the weather is fantastic and spring holidays are upon us. We are off to Cyprus tomorrow for a week of holidays. There will be an update on that when we return...

In the meantime, here are some recent photos:

The kids (with friend Bethany) enjoying some Al Fresco dining.

Good to see they are getting in to helping around the house - cleaning the courtyard walls.

Johnathan practicing his photography skills. A self portrait...

Bedtime fun...

Monica bought a children's birthday cake book so we no longer have to suffer the shame of bought cakes at birthday parties. Johnathan has been studying the book intently to choose a cake for his birthday party (in June!). Susannah likes to get involved...

The last two months...

Another long overdue update.

We had a great time with Nanny Helen and Poppy Paul during there stay but it went too fast of course.

We had a quiet Christmas day, Johnathan and David were both sick which was unfortunate but we still managed to celebrate and have a feast.

Just after Christmas, Helen and Paul looked after the kids for four days while we went to Hong Kong for a short holiday. We had a great time, enjoying the opportunity to go out in the evenings and sleep in late. We also managed to get in a bit of sight seeing as well.

We missed the kids a lot but they had a great time enjoying the resort like atmosphere of the compound with Nanny Helen and Poppy Paul.

We got back on New Years eve and that night we went out with some friends to celebrate the arrival of 2008.

We celebrated Poppy Paul's birthday while he was here in true Australian style with a birthday pavlova.

Nanny Helen and Poppy Paul took their holiday in Egypt then came back for a few days before we had to say goodbye and they went home. The house felt a bit empty for a few days...

There was more illness in the family then when a nasty virus took Monica out of action for a week and then David was sick again as well - fortunately the kids avoided this one. But soon after that Johnathan managed to get himself in trouble with a hard bang on the head ending in a trip to emergency. No stitches to the cut fortunately but he did get an x-ray which he is quite proud of as you can see. No permanent harm done.

We have had a couple of trips to the desert this year which have been fun. The trip we took yesterday was great. We stopped at the beach near a Qatari man's winter encampment (it is common for the locals to set up permanent camps during the winter). He came out and told us that his family wasn't there that day and as it was windy we could use his tent. It was set up in true bedouin style with carpets and cushions plus with some modern accessories like electric lights and satellite television. One of his servants then brought in a massive platter of fruit for us to share - it was quite an experience.

Another one of the interesting parts of the desert is to watch the locals playing with their toys - quad bikes, land cruisers, motor bikes dune buggies - you name it, they have it. And they are mad! We will have to catch some video next time and post it so you can truly appreciate the mayhem...

One event in February was the women's tennis open. Tickets were free, you just go to the stadium after work, take a fantastic courtside seat and enjoy! We saw Sharapova play in the earlier rounds but did not get into the final, they ran out of free tickets.

It is a very pleasant time of year here in Doha - the weather is perfect and there are quite a few events going on to keep us entertained. We will have to make the most of it before the summer sets in...